Employing the Problem-Based Learning Approach in Civil Engineering Education: The Highway Engineering Experience

This chapter describes teaching and learning experience in civil engineering education, in particular, highway engineering, using the problem-based learning (PBL) approach. In this approach, students were divided into several groups with one student in each group assuming the role of the project manager, while the rest play various roles in the working team such as model developer and designer. The groups were given problems related to real case conditions. The group members needed to discuss ways to solve the problem and, eventually, come up with a scale model based on their solution. Using self-administered questionnaires after the learning process, surveys were conducted to gauge both the students’ and instructors’ perceptions on the effectiveness of the PBL approach in engineering learning based on the outcomes of the students’ learning. The results indicate that the PBL approach has positive impact on students’ learning, both in their technical training and soft skills enhancement. Such positive impact may have some pedagogical implications for engineering education.